Never Race Again
by Brandonstuart
Summary: Who thought just a simple race between rivals could end up like this? With Sonic trying hard to deny the newfound attraction to the biohog and Shadow confusing him further with his random actions, how could these two ever get and stay together? Sonadow
1. A Race and an Unexpected Accident

Yes, I live again, and I'm sorry to tell anyone of my readers from my old stories, but I just don't think I'm going to continue any of them. My interests have greatly changed since I wrote them, and I no longer remember any of the plots or what I was going to have happen. I give full permission for anyone who wants to to adopt them as their own story and take over and do whatever they want with them, I'd really like to see them finished, I just wouldn't be the one to do it.

And yes, I have also discovered the joy that it Sonic the Hedgehog after a very long time without it in my life, and also my newest favorite joy: Sonadow! So, with this in mind I've decided to write another story, which of course will be Sonadow. That's enough talking from me, after the disclaimer (Which obviously I have to have or else I could get this story kicked off ffnet) go right ahead to reading the fic.

Disclaimer: I just got into Sonic the Hedgehog over the summer, so obviously I couldn't own it since it's been around for like, what, eighteen years? Geez, I'm not even that old, and that's the only hint you'll get on my age!!

* * *

It was a lonely, rainy day in Central City. Traffic was being backed up all over the city, with folks honking their horns and leaning out their windows to yell for the line to move forward, for they had to get to work quickly and the line was making them late. A melody of people yelping as a sudden rush of wind flashing by forced those leaning out their windows to quickly jerk their heads back inside if they wanted to keep them. One woman could have sworn she heard the wind laughing at the antics of those getting out of the way.

Unseen to any of these people, two flashes of light were speeding through the city, sometimes when free of cars they would clash, but otherwise they remained straight next to each other, as though racing to an unseen destination. The one that forced the clashing most was a yellowish color, with the other a kind of cobalt blue. Behind the lights, in the aftermath of the less bright trails of yellow and blue, there were two shapes left in the rain, for just half a second before the falling drops filled up the empty spaces again.

Both lights jetted out of the city, for miles and miles they continued on, as though they would never stop no matter how long or how far they went. Suddenly several smaller yellow flashes of light appeared, and shot towards the cobalt light, knocking it off course and forcing it to seemingly roll in the dirt, where the glow of blue faded around the hedgehog who had been running. The shock of the impact from the sudden attack had the blue hedgehog dazed for a short while, before he recovered and frowned. Ears twitched, just barely, and a soft groan issued forth from his throat. Having gotten himself back to full awareness, he glared after the yellow flash that continued on miles ahead of him.

Muttering something about cheaters, the hedgehog sped off after the yellow flash, coming up beside it close enough to see the inky black hedgehog with red-streaked quills, whose speed was causing the yellow light. Surprise sparked in burning coal eyes when they flicked over to meet smug emerald green before they narrowed.

Fangs bared in frustrated annoyance, lips sliping downward to show off a scowl, the inky hedgehog growled, "Thought I left you behind in the dirt where you belong, hedgehog."

Cobalt tried to inch ahead, but obsidian kept the lead, and a cocky smirk spread over blue's muzzle. "Of course not Shadow, can't keep the fastest thing alive in the dirt! Besides, you've got it all wrong, in the dirt is where you belong," he added as an afterthought, eyes slipping back over to meet the inky one's fiery ones. The challenge had been issued, it was up to inky black to decide whether to take it or not.

"Fastest thing alive?" Shadow purred lowly, each word seemingly dipped in vats of contempt and mockery, and oozed the emotions into the air around the two hedgehogs. "Let's see how 'fast' you truly are then!"

With that, the inky one let out a sudden unsuspected burst of speed, right foot coming down once during a powerful skating motion to kick up some dirt from the ground, which danced on the air behind him until the cobalt hedgehog ran straight into the dirt cloud, effectively getting much into his eyes.

Soft, cold laughter skittered about on the wind, brought back from the hedgehog now completely in the lead, mockingly being called back at him for a reason. "Hope you like dirt Sonic!"

A low, dangerous growl thrummed deep in Sonic's throat, knowing just from Shadow's words that he'd done it on purpose, let alone that Shadow didn't have to touch the ground to move about.

Fighting to get the stinging dirt out of his eyes, Sonic slowly chased after him as best he could without potentially crashing into something, scoffing and preparing a teasing remark about Shadow's need to use tricks to get ahead and stay ahead.

It took longer than expected to catch up to the tricky hedgehog, for Shadow had made sure to leave behind fallen trees and smashed boulders to block the path. Since Sonic couldn't skate in the air like the other, he obviously had to be careful to not trip over these things, therefore slowing him down considerably. As soon as he caught sight of inky fur and black streaks, he realized they were both getting close to where the unspoken finish line was, and that if he didn't catch up to the other and overtake him soon, he would lose. And Sonic refused to lose.

With that in mind, Sonic put aside all his caution, joking, and care freeness, and just put on the speed, catching up to Shadow after just a few short minutes, only feet behind the other in their little race, with many important things at stake.

His full concentration was upon catching up to Shadow, and inch by inch he could see he was gaining on him. Perhaps the other was getting tired, for they had been running around the world for hours now without any break, perhaps not. But just a few more seconds and Sonic would be close enough to pull along side him, and just a few seconds after that he'd be able to pass him and win, for the finish line was so close now he could taste it. He just had to-

His heart skipped a few beats as his foot caught on an unseen rock, and his body pitched forward at superfast speed, falling into air it seemed, as though he was going to fall and fall and fall and never land. The landing would hurt like hell at this speed though, and instinctively he threw his arms out, hand flailing to grab onto something to keep him upright, to keep him from falling and crashing to the ground. Eyes closing in preparation, his mind wasn't processing things fast enough to feel his hand catch something and try to use it to keep himself up.

The next few moments were blacked out, only thing he could remember was a painful feeling of hitting the ground hard, rolling around and around and around, and of yelps that only half sounded like his own. It felt like an eternity of pain and loud noises, but finally everything seemed to still, and he was left lying on top of something that felt oddly… soft. However, Sonic really didn't feel like wondering about what he was lying on, all he cared about was finding out what hurt and what didn't.

After discovering every part of his body was intact, just some places bruised, he decided it was finally time to find out where he now was. The thought that he could have lost the race from the fall didn't once cross his mind, that was completely forgotten in the fall.

Slowly he opened his eyes, blinking confusedly at the fact that it was still all black, and so he closed them again and opened them once more, as though that would suddenly make him able to see things. A soft, confused sound trickled out of his vocal cords, and he didn't even bother to stop it.

Deciding now would be a good time to physically find out where he was since his eyes obviously couldn't be relied on, he tried to move his hands and found himself able to. Checking around on what he was laying on he couldn't help but notice that it was very… soft, just like he thought it was. Puzzlement echoed through him at this discovery, because he was extremely sure there had been nothing soft for him to fall on.

Vibrations from what he was laying on startled him and made him let out a yelp before his ears twitched reactively and picked up a furious growl from somewhere nearby, and his ears tried to swivle around to locate it. Problem was… they lowered since the noise was coming from below him. It was at this moment that Sonic's whole body froze and a dreadful chill raced down his spine as he realized what, or rather who, he was lying on.

Before he could comprehend it the black in his vision, which just a split-second earlier he'd realized were quills, suddenly had sharp points and frozen, biting pain tore through his front as millions of those sharp quills stabbed into him. A loud startled cry of pain escaped him as he was suddenly bucked off and more pain assaulted him as the furious hedgehog he'd been lying on slammed him into the ground by pouncing and pinning him. Murderous red eyes bit into his wide and frightened emerald ones.

"_What_ made you grab my tail like that and then think you could use me as some kind of softening cushion you little shit?" Shadow spat at him, narrowing his eyes as his hands reflexively gripped the cobalt neck of the one beneath him, squeezing warningly.

So there Sonic was, pinned under an almost homicidal biohog, about to be shredded into pieces if he gave a wrong answer, and his mind had quit thinking all of a sudden. Of course he did the only thing his body could think of to perhaps shock the muderous biohog enough to make him let go so he could escape. He leaned up, despite the claws now pricking into his skin, and kissed him.


	2. Confusing Conversations and Surprises

Yup, another chapter up in the same day. Truth be told, I wrote these during my classes in school, in a notebook so I could bring them home and edit them when I typed them up on the comp. I gotta say, some parts are definitely different than what I originally had written, so it's no surprise it's a ton better on here! Anyway, onto the story.

Disclaimer: If I ever tried to go around saying I owned Sonic the Hedgehog, which would in a way also mean I owned Shadow, the biohog would come up and blast me into oblivion with several dozen Chaos Blasts. I really don't see how SEGA can stand going around with that fear hanging over their heads every time they say it!

* * *

"Ow! Be careful!"

A sharp stab of pain when a bandage was wrapped a little too tightly around a wound. Tails mumbled a small apology before giving Sonic a sten glare. The two of them were in the young fox's kitchen, the fox busy trying to patch him up.

"If you would stay still I wouldn't have to hurt you while bandaging you. What did you say set Shadow off again?" he asked unexpectedly, giving the blue hedgehog a mildly curious look. It wasn't every day nowadays that Shadow beat Sonic up enough that he needed bandages after all, and he was curious to know what had caused it this time. He still remembered the time Sonic had tried to scare Shadow on Halloween, and had only ended up with a black eye and severe internal bleeding.

Feeling a hot blush rising to his cheeks, Sonic valiently fought the reaction away and managed to overcome it. Giving the young fox a sheepish grin, he shrugged helplessly while chirpily answering, "I was talking with some chili dog in my mouth and some of it got on him."

The lie worked like a charm, Tails gave him such an exasperated look that he knew right away he wouldn't question him further, (After all, some things just weren't meant to be known) which Sonic definitely didn't want him doing.

He didn't even want to admit to himself that after Shadow had gotten over the initial shock of his impulsive action and had beat the crap out of him, Sonic in his dazed and pained state of mind had actually admitted to himself that the beating had been… worth it.

He never would have thought Shadow tasted spicy, or that he could make that soft little sound that Sonic was never able to describe. He fervently denied that he had spent ten stunned and pained minutes trying to do so. Moreover, in this completely insane state of mind Sonic had thought he wouldn't mind trying it again sometime, just to taste and hear it again.

Even now, that crazy, delusional thought made the saner Sonic shudder. How could he ever want to actually kiss Shadow? The guy was his best friend, and you don't go kissing best friends and then like it. The idea was just… he didn't know, but he knew to even think it was ludicrous. Therefore, he pushed it aside, pretended it had never happened, that the thought and desire still drifting in the back of his mind didn't exist…

"You need to stop doing things that make him put you in this state," Tails lectured, frowning when he had finished bandaging the beaten hedgehog. "You're not enemies anymore, and you've got enough of them that want to put you in this state that an ally doing so is just crazy."

"It's not my fault the guy has an extremely short temper! Maybe someone should teach him that every now and then he's gonna get some chewed chili dog on him if he's around me," Sonic defended himself, playfully grinning at him.

Tails opened his mouth to return a comment, which would probably have been some disgusted remark about him just waiting to swallow before he spoke, but the words never came out for the doorbell sounding brought their attention to whoever was ringing it.

"I'll get it," Tails said almost instantly, moving away from where Sonic sat on the counter. Quickly he stepped towards the doorway to the hallway where the front door was.

"No, you stay here, and I'll get it!" Sonic offered quickly, hopping off the counter and speeded ahead of him. Hands grabbed at the young fox's shoulders, and he pushed him back gently. Before a protest could come out, Sonic cut in with, "It's the least I can do for you helping me."

Unable to refute this, Tails just gave a small nod and turned around, going back into the kitchen. A quick dash had Sonic standing in front of the door, frowning as the doorbell sounded again. Someone wasn't so patient…

Opening the door quickly, Sonic had a large grin on his face and the playful words, "What brings you here?" were on his lips but died under the fiery stare of coal.

His mouth fruitlessly opened and closed, words trying to come out but not making it as the one at the door stared coldly at him, slowly looking him over, and, noting the various bandages, a spark of approval flashed through the cold one's eyes.

"Sh… Shadow…" he finally managed to mumble out, feeling heat flare in his cheeks just at the sight of the biologically engineered hedgehog. Had he always been so… The thought was roughly brushed away in fear of what would have been thought.

"Move."

A single word, spoken in that deep, cold voice, but held so much weight in it.

"You're standing in the way," the inky hedgehog added, arms reflexively crossing over his chest, and Sonic's eyes caught the action, and somehow he couldn't help but stare slightly at the fluffy white fur on his chest, wondering vaguely if it was as soft and fluffy as it looked.

The shock of this curiousity had Sonic stumbling back, giving the hedgehog outside the door enough time to slip insie and close the door, casting a vaguely urious look at the startled hedgehog before going off down the hall.

Shaking his head quickly to rid it of the poisonous tought, Sonic followed the other. The black-and-red hedgehog hadn't completely ignored him, insulted him unnecessarily, or beat the hell out of him again so perhaps he had gotten over the kissing? Sonic hoped so, it had hardly been two minutes, and already he was tired of being so jumpy around the other.

He found him in the kitchen, murmuring quietly to Tails, who listened intently and held out his hand after a few minutes. Shadow promptly dropped more than two dozen microchips into the fox's outstretched hand, slipping his hand back as soon as having done so.

With a quick phrase of gratitude, Tails raced off without any other word, probably not even realizing Sonic was there again. It was then Sonic realized both he and Shadow were alone again, and his heartbeat quickened at the thought.

Watching Shadow, who hadn't moved much besides a slight shifting to get more comfortable and to cross his arms, who was steadily keeping his gaze on the wall, Sonic itched to race around the room a thousand times.

Eternity seemed to drag on as the silence between them thickened and threatened to choke Sonic, since the blue speed demon could not stand any long silences.

Finally, after an agonizing three minutes, burning red eyes slowly slipped along the wall until they came to rest on Sonic, and on a dark tan muzzle, the corner of a lip twitched, either meant to be a frown or something more… friendly.

Sonic caught the movement and wondered what was going on in the other's head, but he didn't look a gifthorse in the mouth. "So," he stated happily, bouncing forward to make sure Shadow kept his gaze on him (At the very least just to make sure he wouldn't try anything), "what was that all about?"

He could tell Shadow was thinking over his question and weighing how annoying it would be to actually answer him or not, and he must have decided to just answer it whether it was annoying and would encourage further conversation because he raised his right shoulder just a tiny bit in a one-sided shrug. "G.U.N., asked me to deliver those microchips to Tails. Didn't ask and they didn't tell."

A slow blink was a response to the long train of words coming from Shadow, which was rare since really all he'd had to say was 'G.U.N.'. Sonic suddenly felt like he was floating on air. Shadow had decided to speak more than one word or sentence at a time towards him, which must mean he wasn't pissed at him anymore and he didn't have to always watch what he did or said!

With this elated realization, he decided to push his luck and barely gave into the sudden unknown desire to scoot somewhat closer to the extremely dangerous biohog.

"Just out of sudden curiousity, where have you been staying recently?" he asked, grinning. He didn't know why, but he felt it was very important to know this.

A small, slow blink was the only physical reaction he got from Shadow. "Rouge's," was his simple, one-word answer.

The hope Sonic had unknowingly sparked dimmed. Rogue had gotten to Shadow, and he didn't know why he felt so disappointed all of a sudden. "Oh," he uttered in reply to his answer.

Seeing, or perhaps more sensing the disappointement in his voice, Shadow decided to elaborate. "She was letting me stay there because I had nowhere else to stay."

Ears perked up at the sudden noted use of the past tense, and words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. "So… so you have nowhere to stay?"

Seeming to realize where this was headed, even though Sonic himself was completely lost and only going on instinct and feeling right now, Shadow's ears pinned back against his skull and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "What are you getting at?"

"Well… er… uh… I mean…" sonic stammered, confused and utterly lost now, instinct not even providing a correct response to the sudden question.

"…If you are trying to offer your own home as a temporary residence..." Shadow started softly, closing his eyes for a few moments while his arms crossed over his chest again, ears barely twitching as he seemed deep in thought over something.

Sonic's breath had frozen in his lungs, and he stared wide-eyed at the other hedgehog. Had that been what he had been going to ask if the track of conversation hadn't been shifted so quickly? How had Shadow known it while he himself hadn't?

"…Very well," he finished finally after several minutes had passed and Sonic had offered no disagreements on what he thought he'd been going to say, eyes still closed yet ears now perked forward again in a relaxed manner.

"But," he added, snapping his eyes open to pin the furry across from him with a very serious stare, "there is one condition first".

"Wh… what is it?" Sonic couldn't help but curiously ask despite his apprehensions. For all he knew Shadow wanted to do some evil thing to him that would leave him crippled or hurt for weeks.

In silent response to his question, Shadow uncrossed his arms and took the few steps towards the other so they were now very close. Close enough that Sonic could once again stare at the inky hedgehog's white shock of fur and wonder if it was just as soft and fluffy as he thought it must be.

His thoughts were interupted by a gloved hand snapping forward and grabbing his wrist, using it to force him forward with a quick jerk, and all his thoughts became silenced as he felt warm heat on his lips, and a spicy taste made him weak-kneed.

Shadow released him and stepped back, slowly licking his lips in mild appreciation, fangs glinting wickedly under the kitchen lights. "So long as I'm allowed to do that whenever I want," he said simply, not in the least bit as breathless as Sonic now was.

Before Sonic's mind could process the words, the pleased hedgehog was gone in a flash of Chaos Control, leaving the still stunned blue hero alone in the kitchen to sink to his knees and try to figure out what the hell had just happened.

"Fuck..." he mumbled dazzedly. "Chili dogs, that's what the taste was… spicy chili dogs."


	3. Syrup, Conversation, and Emeralds

Disclaimer: Never will I say I own Sonic the Hedgehog, because furious fangirls would come racing to my door and demand that I change the plot or make a game the way they want me to. Seriously, you don't want to face the fangirls man.

* * *

He was slowly going mad.

That was the one thing Sonic could accept as fact after a full week of the oddest things happening in his house. He'd come home to find the house smelling like someone had been cooking, but find no evidence of anyone having done so, and then twice he'd found the shower and towel still wet as if someone had just minutes before gotten out of it. One other time he could have sworn several books he had on a bookshelf (Tails idea, he never really touched the books) had been put out of order. Little things like that made him seriously wonder if his house had become haunted.

Now there was _this. This_ was him waking up on the seventh day of the haunting of his house to a smell of something either burning or cooking.

He fought with the blankets wrapped tightly around him on his bed, which all seemed intent upon keeping him trapped within them, and yelped when his tossing and turning sent him falling to the floor, blankets coming down with him and entrapping him further.

When he finally got out of the blankets' grasp, he had to stumble through the darkness of his room – _It's not even dawn yet!_ He though in annoyance- to make it to the door, where he fumbled with the doorknob, his just-woken mind trying to remember how to open it.

Once he finally realized he had to _turn_ the knob to open the door, he threw it open and stumbled out into the hallway, shaking his head violently to dislodge the sleep out of his fuzzy brain. Now feeling much more awake, he raced down the hallway, down the stairs (Nearly slipping and rolling down them), and into the kitchen- where he promptly froze as his mind was unable to comprehend what it was seeing.

This was just not possible. It went against everything he knew, against the very laws of _nature_ itself. Seeing this made him sure that Chaos itself was going to come crashing through the wall and offer him all the riches in the world as well as announce it wanted eternal peace for all living things. This just _didn't_ happen.

Then his mind began to focus on the scene in front of him seriously, where it squealed a definitely unmanly "Cute" loudly. His jaw not only hit the floor, but it also crashed into it with such force it must surely have gone all the way into the basement.

Most definitely someone had been cooking in his kitchen, and he felt extremely retarded for not having realized who had been skulking around his house the past week and messing with a few things here and there, for here was the criminal in all his… cute… glory.

Sticky syrup stuck to inky black fur, and black-and-red paws tried to swipe the sticky stuff out of said fur, while the owner of both the fur and paws glared balefully at the blue hedgehog in the doorway who was so obviously torn between continuing to gape at him and just bursting out laughing at the hilarity of the scene.

A small, pink tongue slipped out of the sticky one's mouth to lick at the side of a black-furred mouth in a futile attempt to lick off the syrup stuck there, and tan cheeks went bright red at the action.

In an attempt to get his face color back to normal, Sonic managed to choke out, "S-so… you uh… like pancakes huh?" between stifled laughter. He just couldn't help himself, it was too much to handle all at once, and the hilarity of it all hit him first.

The glare now became full-out murderous as the coal hedgehog sitting at the kitchen table roughly shoved the now-empty plate away from himself. One black-furred ear tried to twitch angrily, but failed pathetically as the sticky syrup stuck to the fur on it prevented it from even moving.

Even with the murderous glare, it was certainly hard to deny that the biohog, who was covered in pancake syrup from obvious messy eating, was cute. As strange as it was to think that, Sonic knew it was the truth the moment his mind thought it.

"One more word, hedgehog," Shadow snarled, deep voice promising a near-future homicide if the blue hero refused to shut up in the next two seconds.

Deciding not to dig his grave any further, even though this was _such_ good blackmail material, Sonic held up his hands in a movement of surrender. "My lips are sealed!" he announced, pretending to be completely grave and serious for once.

Shadow's fiery eyes observed him for several minutes, studying whether or not he would speak again even after he had ordered him not to, before just the barest of nods came from him and he pushed his chair back in order to get up. Then he proceeded to pick up the messy plate and silverware, padded over to the sink (Sonic absently realized he had no shoes or gloves on, and the blush he had fought back came back with a vengeance as he realized the black one was now completely naked) and started washing them.

Surprised to think that the other that the other knew how to wash dishes properly without breaking them or getting fed up with them and just smashing them to be done with it, Sonic sped over to his side to see if he was doing it right. He hadn't realized he would have to scoot extremely close to the randomly violent hog until he heard the growling and felt the bristling fur on the other's arm brushing against his.

A squeak announced Sonic's startlement as he jumped a few feet to the side, furiously apologizing in order to not be punched over invading the biohog's personal space so suddenly and closely while he looked into Shadow's now-annoyed eyes.

Content that the blue one knew not to come so close and invade his personal space, Shadow let his eyes return to the task at hand, and within a minute he had the dishes and silverware washed, dried, and put up within the right places in the cabinets.

Trying to not gain the other's ire again and potentially get his lights knocked out, Sonic kept his eyes from slipping to the patches of sticky fur on the other. He also furiously had to restrain himself from wondering if Shadow now tasted like sweet syrup. Because he seriously didn't want to find out, not in the least.

"Well um…" he started; catching Shadow's attention like a fish to a squirming worm, "if you wanted food you could've waited and we coulda…" he trailed off under Shadow's look.

"And we could have?" Shadow pressed him, eyes narrowing slowly while he crossed his arms. Keeping Sonic out, warning him that he wasn't going to be nice and friendly now.

"Well… y'know… eat together…?" he offered timidly before gaining courage. "We're living together now so we should do things together, right bud?"

A death glare was the only thing he got for his efforts, that and a quick, forceful shove to move him out of the annoyed hedgehog's way so Shadow could go past him to the door, where he stilled for just a second to offer parting words.

"We're _not_ friends, so don't go acting like it. I don't want to be buddy-buddy with you, and I'm only staying here because I don't particularly care where I stay. Get used to me giving you the cold shoulder, because it's all I'm going to give you," he said icily, and then he was gone, down the hallway and up the stairs.

Sonic sighed and stared at the floor, believing Shadow had left because he'd made him mad. His ears drooped until they pricked up at the sound of the shower upstairs starting to run. So Shadow hadn't left, just gone to get the syrup out of his fur…

"You'll kiss me but you won't be friends with me…?" Sonic incredulously mumbled to himself, frowning as he clenched his fists and bounced back from his momentary depression. "You are one weird hedgehog… but even you can't resist my charms for too long!"

Looking around the now-dark kitchen, Sonic remembered just how early it was, and so he trudged out of the kitchen, up the stairs and halfway down the hall before he paused to stare at the bathroom door, where he could more clearly hear the shower running.

Blinking slowly, he tore his gaze from it and continued to his room, shutting the door behind him- and froze. His bed was made, blankets having been picked off the floor and put neatly back onto it, but that wasn't what fully caught his attention. What truly had his attention now was the blue glow of a Chaos Emerald resting no top of the blankets.


	4. Facing the Angry Echidna

Disclaimer: Knuckles will come after me if I claim I own him, and I'll be destroyed/decimated by the power of the Master Emerald, so I most certainly don't own Sonic the Hedgehog.

* * *

"Dude, Shadow's living with you now? Are you _CRAZY_!?"

Sonic had prepared for the shout, though he had not expected it to be so loud, since it rang in his ears even with them pinned back.

Knuckles looked like he was going to start tearing through the house in search of the biohog that instant and Sonic hadn't even told him they'd kissed twice already. Granted he definitely wasn't about to tell his volatile-tempered friend ever if he could help it…

Violent violet eyes glared at him, and one fang glistened under the overhead lights as the echidna growled quietly, fists raised as though about to punch through something.

Sonic blinked slowly and took a step back out of the range of fire. "Hey, hey, Shadow's not all that bad," Sonic said in defense of the absent hedgehog. "He just has some issues."

"He helps Eggman!" Knuckles growled, narrowing his eyes before adding, "Not to mention he tried to destroy the world not once, but twice!"

The blue one couldn't help but puff up at the feeling of a need to defend the black hedgehog, and bluntly shot back, "Eggman's tricked you into helping him dozens of times, and Shadow couldn't help it those times. Sure he had reasons for what he did, but he always got over them and helped us out in the end when we needed it!"

Trying to come up with a logical argument good enough to refute Sonic's, Knuckles guiltily had to admit he _had_ helped Eggman himself many times, and he definitely wasn't proud of it in the least. "At least I don't willingly help Eggman when I know what he's really up to; Shadow doesn't give a damn so long as it benefits him!"

Opening his mouth to shout something back at the echidna, quills bristling, the words died in his throat before they had even formed. He couldn't deny it, because Knuckles was right. Shadow liked to help Eggman sometimes, and so long as he got something out of helping him, he didn't care at all if Eggman wanted to destroy half the world.

Satisfied that Sonic wasn't going to shout anything back in defense of the hedgehog they were arguing about, Knuckles decided to press on with his win, to attempt to get Sonic to see things his way. "How do you know Shadow isn't going to turn on you and let Eggman in sometime, or just kill you sometime?" he asked, scoffing quietly under his breath because they both knew Sonic couldn't answer him at all. Shadow was a loose cannon, and you never knew when he was going to explode.

Quills bristled more than ever as he realized he really couldn't answer the question rightly, Sonic threw a glare at the Guardian of the Master Emerald. "I trust Shadow!" he said loudly, "That's all you need to concern yourself about!"

"You're a fool to trust him, if you were smart at all you would kick him out first chance you get! It's all that asshole deserves anyway, after how many times he's beat the shit out of you for any little thing!" Knuckles shouted at him, fists curling more at the sudden spike of anger because the other just _wasn't_ _listening_. Here he was, bothering to show concern for the blue speedster, and Sonic was just shoving his concern aside, even going so far as to defend that murdering hedgehog.

"This is my house and my life, and if I want Shadow here then he can be here. I'm not a little kid, I can take care of myself Knuckles!" Sonic growled, ears going back from the heatedness of the sudden argument. They had been having a nice chat, and then suddenly he'd let slip that Shadow was staying with him and now Knuckles was going crazy over it.

"And he's going to stab you in the back the first chance he-" before Knuckles could finish his sentence, he was suddenly roughly falling forward, stumbling as he tried to gain his footing again but failed and was sent sprawling to the ground in an undignified heap. The loud and sudden reverberation of his hitting the floor bounced off the near-empty walls in the hallway.

A white-and-red skate was put on the red echidna's back, and the weight of an annoyed hedgehog was put fully on him. (A soft woosh sound was heard as all the air in the echidna's lungs was suddenly rushed out from the crushing weight on him) While a cry of pain escaped the crushed echidna, a cold voice softly said, "It's impolite to insult someone behind their backs."

Sonic squeaked and looked into the cold, blank eyes of the hedgehog both he and Knuckles had so vehemently been arguing about just seconds prior to his sudden entrance. A fierce blush stole over his cheeks as he realized Shadow must have heard him defending him so passionately.

"I would advise you to check and make sure the one you're talking about is not around before insulting them, echidna," Shadow said, softer than before, and with a dangerous, warning edge to it that promised certain doom should the echidna under his foot not listen to him. With that said, he stepped over the echidna, took a step towards Sonic, eyes narrowing, and coldly said, "As for you…"

Sonic gulped, worried that he had offended Shadow by defending him, or if he was pissed that he had thought himself good enough to defend him, or maybe even it was that Shadow was mad that he had been arguing about him behind his back too. Behind Shadow, he could see Knuckles trying to gain his breath back, and then he gave Sonic an 'I-told-you-so' look.

Another step and Shadow was well within Sonic's personal space, his face so close Sonic could tell their breaths were mingling and he could smell a faint cinnamon taste from the other. A gloved hand slowly came up, golden ring around the wrist catching the light and glistened in it, and Sonic defiantly stared at Shadow. He could hit him all he wanted, but Shadow was his friend, and so he would defend him against anyone whenever he wanted to, whether Shadow wanted defended or not.

A sudden, startling pressure on his ear made him jump, and when Shadow's hand started petting his blue-furred ear, Sonic couldn't help but relax and even lean into the contact a little. His eyes slipped closed against his will, wanting to enjoy this feeling more, and so he missed the slightest softening in Shadow's cold eyes.

It was almost good enough to cause a purr to come from his throat, but Sonic forcefully held it back. It would be excessively embarrassing to start purring in front of both Shadow and Knuckles, even though the later was still recovering from being used as a doormat. Shadow seemed to pet his ear for hours on end, and Sonic most certainly didn't want him to stop anytime soon, and when his other ear started to receive the same attention, he just couldn't stop the purr from escaping him even if he had wanted to stop it.

Unseen to Sonic, Shadow's ears pricked up to listen closely to the interesting noise, and judging that it was loud enough, softly whispered, "Thank you."

Bliss caught the blue hero on all sides, and the only sound Sonic could hear was his own purring, before it was suddenly cut off when the petting of his ears stopped. A startled and slightly annoyed sound revealed that he hadn't wanted the black hedgehog to stop at all. Emerald orbs peered curiously as eyelids opened just a bit, a frown tugging at a peach muzzle, wanting to be informed of what was so important that it would cause Shadow to stop.

A sly grin slipped onto a dark tan muzzle, and fiery red eyes narrowed, hands returning to black-furred sides.

"Have fun with your argument, though I don't think the echidna will be up to continuing it anytime soon, or you either."

With those parting words, the mysterious one turned, walked on Knuckles to get over to the door, (A loud cry of pain escaped Knuckles and he wheezed out curses) and was gone.

He was beginning to see a pattern of Shadow always leaving right after doing something with him, and he felt a growing sense of annoyance at this. He was going to turn the tables on the cocky hedgehog, and he'd figure out how to do that once Knuckles calmed down and was no longer threatening to "Murder that black-ass punk!"

"OW!"

Probably should have warned the echidna that Shadow had closed the door before he went racing after him too.


	5. Time is Running Out?

So I had it pointed out to me a bunch of flaws I had in my story, and so I've tried really hard to get myself to not make such mistakes so often. Yes, I realize the story was very slow and had next to no plot, but I guess I justified it to myself because I believed I was slowly setting things up for the main plot to take over. I realize Sonic wouldn't have let Shadow beat him up so easily, and that Knuckles would have done a lot more, but I've already planned to put in 'omake' fillers for if my attention span starts to wander from the story, as to what happened right after my shorter starting chapters ended. Trust me, Sonic had a reason for why he was easily beaten, Knuckles definitely got his revenge, and the blue Chaos Emerald on the bed really does have a reason for suddenly being there. It wasn't something nice Shadow was doing, it had a purpose for suddenly showing up, though it definitely wasn't stated at the time. I thank you very much for reviewing and remind me of those finer points, and I'll definitely be sure to hit on them during the story. Please review again to tell me about any complaints you have again on this story, and tell me if you just want me to add lots of more stuff to the chapters before this one, because I can go back and rewrite parts of it and add stuff if I need to. That's enough of my blabbering though, continue on with the story.

Disclaimer: Dude, I'm nowhere near good enough to create and maintain the awesomeness that is Sonic the Hedgehog. No way would I ever take the credit for such an awesome series, and such wonderful characters.

* * *

Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik. Famed to be a genius, with over three hundred IQ points. Inventor of many different kinds of robots, all of which are highly praised by the government, and many of the designs for said robots had secretly been stolen by the govornment and remodled to be their own. This man was brilliant in many different ways, coming up with plans that seemed so hairbrained they could never work, and even though they didn't, it was only because a hedgehog and his friends always stopped him. Otherwise, every one of his plans would have suceeded.

Seeing the dumbfounded look on the supposed "genius's" face after the twelfth time of explaining his brilliant plan, Shadow had to wonder if any of the stories about him were true at all. Three hundred IQ points? More like 30 at the most, was his more acidic thought. To be fair, he didn't really think he was so stupid, it was just that having to explain the same thing twelve times in a row tended to make even the most patient person a little exasperated, and Shadow was in no way patient with explaining things to people.

"Let's start it this way Doctor: What are you confused on?" Shadow said, speaking slowly and pronouncing every syllable like one who was talking to a slow child. Somehow, he had a feeling the man was intentionally trying to play dumb with him, since the plan outlined to him was so outrageous and crazy that even he surely wouldn't dream it up.

"I fail to see how this is going to actually solve anything, or even get anywhere," the Doctor said, frowning as he gave Shadow a look for speaking to him in that way.

From under half-lidded eyes Shadow regarded the good Doctor, the slightest twitch upward of his lips indicating how inwardly amused he was. Oh doctor, he mused to himself, if only you knew how you dance in the palm of my hand. You find it easy to manipulate others, but do you realize how easily manipulated you yourself are? He thought not, and inside he was laughing just barely at it.

"As I have explained, with this plan your most annoying problem, Sonic the Hedgehog, will be thoroughly distracted by me, and as such you could get rid of him while I'm distracting him," he patiently explained, this time just not going through the preliminaries and getting straight down to the meat of his plan. At least, what he had told the Doctor his plan was.

"And you'll distract him by… making him fall for you?" Eggman said slowly, almost incredulously, as if he expected Shadow suddenly to shout, "Fooled ya!" any second now and stop his brain from actually processing this thought track.

"Precisely. Already he's doing so, and all I have to do is encourage him to fall even further. Once fully smitten with me, he would pay more attention to me, leaving you to do what you want: Namely achieve full control over the planet and create your empire."

Shadow had pre-thought through everything he told the Doctor, and he knew the one thing the Doctor wanted now was to control the planet, everything else be damned. He would take it completely, without so much as an afterthought if Shadow were to promise such to him.

"And what do you get out of this?" the moustached man asked suspiciously, frowning as he looked over the hedgehog. Both knew Shadow never did anything if he got nothing, and so the only main question that seemed to be remaining was what he wanted.

"The ability to utterly humiliate him and crush his little pathetic heart into dust, then grind that dust into utter nothing. One of the annoyances in my life will be gone with minimal effort. Just be glad you're getting something out of this as well," Shadow only added the last part to remind the man that he could have done this all along and not involved him. It was only through Shadow's thoughtfulness that the man was even getting the chance to get his empire while Sonic was otherwise not aware of his actions.

Both of course knew perfectly well that there were others who would find out what Eggman was up to, but with small efforts, Shadow had secretely sabatoged all emerald tracking devices in Sonic's little circle of friends, and the only ones that remained now were in G.U.N. hands, and the Doctor himself had one.

That and G.U.N. connections had underhandedly offered Sonic's snoopy friends a wonderful vacation out on the ocean in one of the government's most expensive cruiseships, the reason being told that of gratitude for their latest heroic efforts. They didn't mention that Sonic wasn't joining them, for the blue hero had had the same offer extended to him, but as Shadow predicted, he declined since it would be too little room for him to run and way too much water surrounding him.

It was the perfect time to strike, for the only one that remained to stop Eggman was the echidna, who was now back on Angel Island and wouldn't bother to do anything so long as the Master Emerald would not be involved, and Sonic himself, and as Shadow already informed the Doctor, the pesky hedgehog would not bother him.

"Oh of course, I graciously thank you for your forethought Shadow," Eggman said, pouring on the sugary tones to placate the hedgehog in front of him. His mind had already thought through all the ways the hedgehog could betray him, but he truly couldn't see any reason the other would have for doing so. For now, he would go along with things, staying prepared for if the other decided to betray him for reasons unknown.

The Doctor could think all he wanted, Shadow's plan was already coming together very smoothly, and soon he'd have all he wanted. So far, all the little pieces he had in the palm of his hand, and while they thought they were dancing somewhere else under their own power, he was the one who held all the strings. The fact that he was now slowly seducing Sonic hadn't been a part of his plan to begin with, but when Sonic had suddenly kissed him that one time, he saw the opportunity to attempt this line of tactic and had taken it.

The frown on his dark tan muzzle deepened as he realized he was thinking off topic from what was going on in front of him, and so he returned his attention to the man in front of him. "Flattery is false and should be avoided Doctor," was what he said, in an almost scathing tone, used to reprimand him for thinking he could sugar-talk Shadow into dropping his guard around him.

A slight frown stole over Eggman's face as the small hedgehog reprimanded him so casually, and for a second he thought he was going to snap back at him, but the man just shrugged after a few moments. "Very well then, Shadow," he said, pretending he hadn't spoken to him like an inferior. "I assume you have a very brilliant plan on how you're going to 'distract' the annoying hedgehog, other than him falling for you?" Apparently, he'd already gotten over the insanity one had to have to think of evenmaking the blue hero fall for the dark, cold hedgehog, and Shadow had to smirk at that. So amusing this petty human was.

"Of course I do," Shadow immediately replied, smirk on his lips darkening at the direction the track of conversation had turned to. "If the hedgehog doesn't fall for me… I'll kill him." In addition, the menacing, icy tones in his voice gave the human he was talking to the shivers, because in his cold blood-red eyes he saw no hint of mercy. If the creature before him had ever known what it felt like to pity someone, there was no trace of the memory in his eyes. This merciless gaze was what blew away the final bits of doubt he had about the blackness of the inky hedgehog's heart. Deep inside him, his heart was just as black as his fur.

A cold chill ran down his spine, and deep down the scientist wondered just what he'd gotten into. There was an evil look in the dark hedgehog's bloody eyes. That look warned him of how he was in danger just as soon as the other's plan was completed. He could only hope that he'd find a way to get rid of him during the execution of the plan, so that the murderous habits of the inky one wouldn't turn to him as their newest prey.

"I have no doubt in your ability to do so," was all he said as he made a quick retreat back to the computer terminal he had been looking over before the black hedgehog had Chaos Controlled in. On the screen was the image of a slowly rotating blue Chaos Emerald, beside it were numbers that were meant to show reading of the energy contained inside it, but the numbers were swiftly changing so rapidly it was nearly impossible to read them and get an accurate measure of it. On six different screens, the same image glared down at them, but instead of blue, the other Chaos Emeralds were all different colors.

Behind him, Shadow shifted forward to stand beside the chair, red eyes gleaming in the glare of the computer terminals, they flicked between each terminal methodically. A dark smirk took over his lips, and a soft, cold laugh tore from his throat, intent on making itself known, if only to startle and make the human in the chair shiver again. Soon, very soon, they would all be in position, with enough power in them to start hell for everyone.

The dark hedgehog turned slowly around, turning his merciless gaze onto a larger computer screen that was behind the two of them. On it, seven different colored dots blinked innocently in different places on the map of the world shown on the screen. Five of the dots were moving, slowly but surely, towards where five dull black 'X's were marked on the screen. Shadow's eyes tracked each dot's movement for several seconds, before he closed them and he let out a satisfied sigh. Fools were so very useful, even if they didn't realize it themselves.

It was now a waiting game, and Shadow had as much patience as needed for such a game. He could wait for years if he had to, but he just knew it would only take a few days for everything to be set in place. Then he would have his way, and everyone be damned. Sonic, the Doctor, Knuckles, the fox, the annoying girl who followed Sonic everywhere, Rouge, Omega if he thought about it, and anyone else he had ever known that lived on this planet now. If any of them tried to stop him, he would eradicate them, without a single second thought. Nothing was getting in the way, and his eyes blazed with an inner hellfire as his resolve firmed itself once again in his mind. Everyone was damned in a few days. Himself included.


End file.
